Happy Halloween!

Beer lab at a party:). He got a lot of attention!


Very scary Wolverine.

Very scary Wolverine and friendly Jack-o-Lantern.

My friend Emily and her fiance Hayden. Emily makes the BEST costumes (from scratch). Can you guess what they are? Hint: start with the "A" on top of Emily's head and move left (ignoring me:).

Dinner at a great little place in the Pearl called Ping with some swashbuckling pirates. It's by the same people who brought us Pok Pok Whiskey Soda Lounge.

Black Diamond Half-Iron

Here's a report from a race I did a couple weeks ago with my buddy Jeff, just 30 min SE of Seattle.

I gots me some bling for my age-group win...the picture is a poor attempt at me trying to appear thuggish and elicit some laughter from Jeff and his wife Elizabeth (thanks for the pictures!). The other picture is of the lake that we swam in.

The Skinny: Great end-of-season race in a beautiful area of Washington, just southeast of Seattle and west of Mt. Rainier. Conditions are typically cooler and can be wet. Volunteers were great. Course isn’t slow, but it definitely isn’t fast like Troika or Boise, only 3 of us in the 25-29 AG under 5hrs. Two loops in a small lake at Nolte State Park. Bike has lots of rollers and only a couple short flat sections. There aren’t really any long steep climbs. Run is flat with a couple good inclines and finishes on a plush trail circling the lake you swim in. The trail shoots you just meters from the finish line, so start your sprint as soon as you hear the crowd (you won’t be able to see them). Swim: Men’s mass start, about 3-4 deep at some points. Got kicked around a bunch, but that’s what I expected. Not a good swimmer, so I hung around the outer edges of the loops, closer to shore. Saved my energy for the bike/run. Water was a little cool, but I didn’t mind it much.

35:49, 94th

T1: Decent distance from swim exit to Transition. Put on some socks as it was cool and I had an annoying cut on my foot. Lost 20-25seconds fiddling with my helmet straps, need to properly adjust and set up prior to the start next time!

3:59

Bike: Carried and consumed just over 1000calories (liquid only) on the bike, taking the bulk in the first 2/3 of the ride, but still drinking until the end. Decided to go for broke on the bike and really throw it down. Not an “A” race for me, and I had success a couple weeks ago with this strategy, so I gave it another go. Passed a lot of people, the only two that passed me were athletes doing the relay. Lots of rollers and turn-arounds, so I was able to gauge my time behind and time lost from the leaders. I kept it well under threshold, but could really feel the fatigue after about 40miles. I focused on my form and pulling 360degrees instead of just mashing the pedals down, and found new energy. However, I was still exhausted and fatigued at the end of the bike.

2:31:44, 10th (non-relay)

T2: Quick as I could. No problems.

1:29

Run: I started faster than I should have, but my watch alarm reminded me to slow it down, which I did. My goal pace was a 7:24, but I was going fine at a 7:20, felt that I could have done a 7:10, but kept it at 7:20. Flat course, a few out and backs and a couple gradual climbs, though nothing crazy. Decent exposure to the sun. Aid stations were great. Heed was a little weak, but I was glad to have anything at all. Took in a couple Roctanes over the course. I paced off a tall guy from Seattle (Chris I later found out) the entire race until about mile 9, where a faster runner past both of us. At first I didn’t think I could pass or even catch up to him. Chris bonked at that point, but I still felt very good, happy that I loaded up on the bike. I kept Eric (the guy who passed me, same age group) in my sight, but was at least 100M behind him. At about mile 11 I got within 50M of him and by the start of the trail around mile 12 I was right behind him and pulled up to his side. We chatted for a bit, neither of us trying to let on how much we were actually pushing it. It was pretty comical actually. From my assessment of the course, I knew that you wouldn’t be able to see the finish until about 100M (the trail just shoots you out of the forest and into the open) to go and that any move would have to be made when first being able to just hear the crowd as the forest was relatively dense. With a half mile to go both of us just slowed down as we were positioning ourselves to make a move. I began visualizing and drawing from some track workouts that I had recently done and hearing the crowd even though I couldn’t see them, made my move with maybe 600M to go. I ended up beating Eric by 4 seconds and winning my age group. I couldn’t have scripted the finish any better. What a way to end my season.

1:35:40, 7:18min/mile pace, 13th (non-relay)

Final: 4:48:42, 12th Overall, 1st Age group (25-29)

What I Learned: Scope out the course or at least read about it before. Focus on your bike form throughout the race, not just when you start to feel fatigued. Get everything set and tested in transition prior to the start. I need to start swimming more consistently and work on my upper body strength over the Fall/Winter.

Cannon Beach

So, we've been slacking with our blogging. Here's a few pics from a day trip that we took to Cannon Beach back in the summer. The first pic has Haystack Rock in the background. The second pic is Indian Beach looking NW. Went for a beautiful hike in Ecola State Park in the last pic. Weather was nice and cool.

The Cutest Story

If you haven't seen this story about the father/daughter and the baseball it's worth watching.

And the Winner Is...

Paul was the overall winner at the Aluminum Man Olympic Tri this weekend in the Dalles!

Fear Thee Not

A salty breeze, fresh crab, and endless adventures awaits us!

BIG FINAL STAGE TOMORROW AT THE TOUR

Turn on the TV early to see the Mt. Ventoux stage. Can Lance secure a podium spot in Paris on Sunday?

The extra four seconds that Armstrong collected by riding among the 12-man sprinters' group could come in handy because he is closely trailed in the overall standings for third. "Tomorrow is the big day, but that's what made the ride today hard because already we're a bit into the stage (mentally)," Schleck said. "Tomorrow it's the legs that will do the talking." Schleck said that in comparison to Mont Ventoux, L'Alpe d'Huez -- another of France's most punishing climbs -- is "a piece of cake."

Annie's Recent Case

Crazy that this stuff happens all the time.

A Comeback That We May Never Witness Again

Many of you have been following this. Amazing.

Ironman CDA 2009 Race Report

I promise, this is the last you'll hear about IM CDA, just need to publish my race report.

Thanks to all of my family and the Swatzells, especially to my loving wife Annie who tolerated me through 9 months of training. I owe you a few weekends. Thanks to all of my friends and "coaches" for the advice and for cheering me on. Thanks for the great pictures Mark, the ASI photos don’t hold a light to yours.

What I Learned: Imagine all the different things that can go wrong (improper nutrition, flat, swells, heat, rain, cold, drafting penalty, etc.) and expect at least one of them. No matter how prepared you are, there is so much out of your control. You will be hit in the face (or close to) and hit plenty yourself, unless of course you are in the top or bottom 5% of the swim, and even then it will just be less frequently. Mount you bike past the designated mount begin line. Pass the time by doing the math and making sure you are on your target splits on the bike. Gradually take in nutrition and fluids on the bike until you almost get sick and then back off. It’s much easier to ride full on the bike than it is to run with a full stomach. Take in electrolyte pills at the beginning of the run otherwise it will be too late.  Try a combo of running and walking for the marathon. I guarantee you that you’ll still be able to run a sub 3:30 if you are in that kind of shape. You’ll feel born-again after every walk segment. Don’t get a massage until at least 5 days after the event, unless you are comfortable with the side effects (for me, nausea and more pain) of toxins being released.

Pre-Race: Mid 50s and windy. Ate a bunch of oatmeal and a banana around 430am, followed by a cup of coffee. Made sure to consume fluids throughout the early morning. Got down to the transition/start area an hour earlier. Took a gel 15min before the start and got in the water for a few minutes.

Race Nutrition: 15scoops GU2O. 6 scoops Malto. 9 or 10 gels. 1packet Chomps. A few pretzels. A swig of Gatorade and a lot of water. 

Swim: Mass start, complete with kicks to the face and ankle grabbing. I really didn’t get out of the pack and wasn’t able to sight properly, so I just followed others. My first lap was 35min. The second lap the winds started to pick up and the swells followed. I still couldn’t get out of traffic and for me the race became about not running into others rather than focusing on my stroke. What a mess.

1:19:42, 1066^th, uber slow average

T1: Change tent was full and it looked quicker just to change in the grassy area. My family cheered me on and took some cool pics.

3:59

Bike: Smooth mount and clip in. Steady out and back and up 4^th St. to the loop that I’d ridden at least 4 times before. Looked at my computer and monitored my speed very carefully. I knew that if I really hammered it in my first 30-40miles my race would be done before I started the run. I kept it just above 20mph the entire race, which was my goal. On the rolling hills, I got low and coasted easy on the downhill and saved my juice for the beginning of the incline, where I pushed it going up the hills for a few minutes and then laid off it. I passed a lot of people this way and I had done a lot of interval training, which made this possible. I made sure to fuel throughout the bike, with a few more calories on the front end. As I finished the first loop, I could hear my family and friends cheering. Halfway through I puked a little trying to consume and keep down my calories while trying to hold my pace, which actually paid off in the end as I was properly fueled by the end of the bike. I consumed just over 2000 calories on the bike. I held off on taking in as much water as I did at Wildflower b/c of the lower temperatures. I really didn’t lose that much water. I ended up passing over 700 people on the bike.

5:33: 54, 344^th, 20.13mph average

T2: Got my feet out ahead of time and handed off my bike. Smooth transition. Jeff Platt was there in the change tent and cheered me on.

1:43

Run: Mid-60s. As always, the beginning felt worse than it actually was. I used a porto-potty and caught up with AJ Kemp who was about a minute ahead of me and ended up doing the first half with him. We ran 2miles close to a 8min pace and then walked for one minute. I had never done this before, but thought, what the heck, if I have someone to chat with, it can’t be that bad. Turns out it really helped my ITband problem as I was fresh after every short walk. Thanks AJ. His quads ended up tightening up about halfway through, I offered to hang around, but he gave me the ok to take off. I continued this same method throughout the entire race. It worked great even though I had never done it in training before. I met Mark Kendall after the half-way turnaround and walked and talked with him for a minute, his legs were injured, but he was all smiles and had a great attitude about it. Way to go Mark. I did the run/walk thing even at the very end, which kind of skewed my split for the last 4 miles, but who really cares, it’s all about the overall average. I felt a little low around mile 20 and immediately took in an additional gel, a couple electrolyte pills, and a splash of Gatorade. I felt better and then it started to rain pretty hard around mile 22. By the end I had past another 100 people. The last half-mile was pretty emotional. I was tempted to walk more as I really had given it 100% and was starting to break down and mentally prepare for the finish line…it was finally here. I finished strong and with a smile.

3:47:15, 251^st, 8:40min/mile average

Finish= 10:46:34, 251^st, 24^th in AG

Post-Race: Alana and Shannon were catchers at the finish line. Thanks so much. Jeff was also there to help me get my gear and keep me dry. It was really nice to have so much help. My family was there to congratulate me as well. I could hardly sleep as I was still buzzing from my first IM high. 

Ironman CDA

I'm sure Paul will post more info later, but here are a few more photos from last weekend. All of the good shots are courtesy of markswatzell.com - our personal photographer.

Halfway through the Ironman...

And Paul is doing great!!!
Yes - if you blow up the bottom picture of Paul on the beach in his wetsuit Captain Jean Luke Picard is standing just to his right.

Birthday Weekend in Coronado

IRONMAN COEUR D'ALENE

With my first ironman coming up on Sunday, I just thought that I’d send out an email/post making it easier to follow online or if you’re actually coming to Coeur d’Alene, to watch.

The Race: This Sunday. 2.4mile swim, 112mile bike, and a 26.2mile run (marathon). The swim, bike, and run are all two loops, going through downtown CDA during the transition and completion of each loop.

Following Online: There should be an athlete tracker online, where you can see what my splits are: http://www.ironmancda.com/

Watching in CDA: Assuming you don’t want to be downtown all day, the best time to watch is right at the beginning at 7:00am (the mass start) and in the evening (at the finish). The first pro should cross the finish line just after 3pm. Assuming all goes well and that I can manage my ITband problem, I hope to finish around 6pm. However, I have never done one and am not even sure that I will finish given my injury and inexperience; so many things can go wrong. The masses will be crossing the finish until midnight, when the course officially closes.

Highlights: Check out the mass swim start, lots of people (2000) climbing over each other and getting kicked in the face. The run should be interesting, a lot of people will be walking just to try and finish. Every racer (ages 18-80) has their own story, their own cause, and has dedicated 8-12months to train for this event. Search “ironman triathlon” on YouTube, there are some inspirational videos that will blow you away.

My Cause?: A lot of people use Ironman as a fund raiser or awareness campaign. People tend to give money or pay attention if someone is preparing for an all day, beyond human limits, suffer-fest. I don’t have a charity, but I have been thinking a lot about my grandfather over these last 8 months.

Opa (Paul Steinbrenner) grew up on the German / Polish border in the 1920s, one of many siblings, most of which either died from basic diseases caused by malnutrition or as a result of the side effects that war has. His family starving and his life threatened, Opa wasn’t given much of a choice when the war came around and was basically a courier between regiments (his motorcycle had a neat side-car) for the German Army (not the SS, think US Army vs. CIA, big difference). He watched his comrades die in battle (Stalingrad and all over the eastern front) and was one of only two to return from the war in his original unit. That being said, he didn’t return whole. Not only was he wasting away at just over 100lbs after months of war and malnourishment (no “ice cream stations” like in some mess halls overseas), but also got hit by a grenade that should have taken his life. A shard from the grenade entered just a centimeter from one of his heart’s main arteries and had such a force that is was logged deep enough in his chest cavity that they had to pull it out from the other side (yes, his back). He spent two days on a tank just to get to a hospital. He should have died and still bleeds from the hole in his chest. I will never have to endure anything close to this, but it is a certainty that there are millions of current or former soldiers out there just as brave.

At the hospital, nuns nursed him back to health over a period of months. When the war was over, he returned to a ruined country that gave out rations well below what our convicts receive in prison, or what the new fad diet most likely recommends you starve yourself with. He married my grandmother, Bertha Prange, and had a beautiful daughter, Christa Steinbrenner, my mother. He worked hard and saved all that he could. When his daughter married and had children, Opa would visit them almost year around to help care for them. He is the best grandfather that I could ever imagine.

To this day, he is sh*t on by us and our preconceived notions of what a German soldier is or was. World War II Germany is an extreme example, but think of how you really perceive Russians, Japanese, Iraqi, Afghani, or even American soldiers returning from the Middle East. Think of how you perceive the losers of war and how they are demonized. Think of how you perceive soldiers coming back from a war that you abhor. The reality is that they have little control over their destiny; most of them are merely puppets at the mercy of their masters. A North Korean soldier has no clue what you’ve gone through just as much as you have no clue what they’ve gone through or what they really believe.

My point is that you should respect soldiers and those who put their lives on the line in a theatre of war; even if our culture writes them off as the losers.

If you’ve gotten all the way down here, thanks for reading.

Great Article on Galen Rupp

Alberto Salazar, Steve 'Pre' Prefontaine, and Kara Goucher are all American running legends you might recognize. A lot of us have been following Rupp since high school here in Portland, he's the next big thing in American distance running.

http://www.oregonlive.com/trackandfield/index.ssf/2009/06/watching_rupp_go_the_ducks_are.html

Perfect Story To End Your Week

What a neat story.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_rags_to_riches

Tsunami IM CDA Training Camp

Great weekend with a fun group! Jeremy, thanks for getting the place and all the other things that you did for us (loading/unloading, maintenance, groceries, etc.) and continue to do. I feel more prepared for IM CDA after having done these workouts and the course multiple times. Thanks Kristin for the group pic.

Saturday: Temps started out in the mid 60s and warmed up to about 80. Had a late-morning start and went over the bike course for the first time. Lots of people out on the course. Stopped a few times to get the turns right. Beautiful area around Hayden Lake. There is a sharp turn on the NW corner of Hayden Lake and then a couple downhill turns w/ rough pavement when you head back west towards Government Way, but mostly nice straight-aways. There is a tough series of hills called English Point as you head north away from Hayden Lake. The run afterwards was brutal. I went out past the run turnaround all the way to the bike turnaround, east along Lake CDA. I should have done a better job hydrating, but managed to suck down some garden hose water when things looked grim, towards the end. We all took a little dip in Lake CDA afterwards to cool our legs. The group went through 5 pizzas, chicken strips and bread sticks back at camp.

55 miles on the bike course followed by 15 miles on the run course.

Sunday: Mid morning start on Kathleen and 4th, at the start of the bike course loop, just north of downtown. Did three 34 mile loops. We regrouped after every lap, grabbing more nutrition and fluids. I was hydrated, but low on cals and electrolytes. Went for Mexican afterwards.

103 miles on the bike course followed by a 3 mile run.

Monday: Rode into town early and did the out and back along the Lake. Short run by the house afterwards.

25 miles mostly on the bike course followed by a mile+ run.

Rough Memorial Day Weekend

As you can see, it's been a hard weekend - what with all the sun, water and good food. It hasn't been quite as much fun for Paul who is spending most of the weekend training - but he spends his evenings relaxing with us at the Lake.

Oregon Budget Forecast

This will effect matters at the Courthouse: http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2009/05/may_forecast_state_short_36_bi.html

Wildflower Long Course: Race Report

Wednesday: Picked up the Uhaul with the suburban and headed over to Don’s after work. Loaded the trailer and the five of us took off around 6:45pm. Traffic wasn’t bad heading out of town. 14hr trip, drove 10hrs of it with a little help from Rockstar. Stopped a few times for petrol and restroom breaks. Truck stops are definitely sketchy places in the middle of the night.

Thursday: Slept an hour while Josh drove. We stopped in King City before driving into Lake San Antonio and entered the park through the south side. Once you cross the entrance make a right and then another right up the hill and back towards the showers and you’ll find where we set up camp. Lots of people were already there. We then got a couple hours of sleep after setting everything up. I crashed in the suburban and set up my tent for storage, which worked out perfectly. Limited / no cell phone reception. The five of us went down to the expo and also for a swim. Dad drove in later on, pretty neat to hang out with him for the weekend.

Friday: Drove back to King City to grab a jo-to-go from Starbucks, took a little longer than expected. Cooked some bacon that I brought from Oregon. Went over part of the bike course and ran 5miles of the run course. Checked out the expo a little more and took it easy back at camp as it was raining. Laid out all of my gear for the race. Neat atmosphere with everyone just camping and hanging out.

RaceDay: Waking up to dark clouds on the horizon and a 30% chance of rain I didn’t put my sunblock on (big mistake). Ate a good breakfast, got my things together and headed down to the expo / start area. Not even at Ironman 70.3 Boise were there this many people. It really was quite a site with everyone getting ready and anticipating a grueling day of swimming, biking, and running behind the backdrop of beautiful Lake San Antonio. Dad managed to sneak into the transition area where all the athletes were and take a bunch of photos, pretty cool. He even made it down to the swim start with us and took some more pictures, they turned out really well. Jeff peed his wetsuit before we even started, everyone around him had a good laugh when they saw something wet trickle from his suit onto the dry concrete. Definitely one of the highlights of our trip.

Swim: Started 15min behind the pros. Gun went off and I wait until about ¾ of my wave was in the water. Didn’t get a clear line to the buoys as the sunrise and clouds were playing tricks on my sight (dark one min, bright the other). Swallowed a lot of disgusting lake water. Also had trouble navigating around a few people, but in the end, not bad. Thought the swim was a tad longer than 1.2miles, but I still PRd (not hard to do).

35:37

Bike: Slow T1 as you had to climb / hobble up the concrete launch with cold feet. Took off and lost one of my two water bottles in the first 500M. Great, I thought, now half of my calories are gone and I’m going to bonk. I settled for grabbing a couple Gatorades from the aid station instead of bonking and putting my entire race into jeopardy. The bike started with a mile of short rollers and then a steep climb, settled, and then longer rollers and some hills. Overall, the roads weren’t that smooth and a couple of us got flats; luckily, I was not one of them. However, my seat-mounted water bottle holder got loose and a screw popped, bring the whole unit down about 30 degrees and dropping another waterbottle. Great. My aero bar got loose and went down about ten degrees, cutting off the circulation to my hands and forearms at that angle. I was unaware of this until my hands became numb and had to shake them out on the ascents as to make sure I could grip my water bottle, shift gears, hit the brakes and hopefully put on my shoes in transition. I didn’t notice that I was climbing “Nasty Grade” until I was almost at the top and making a right onto “Heartrate Hill.” Things had been pretty intense and I could feel myself weakening, so I took what was left of my calories after mile 45. They did get worse as the hills didn’t stop. Sharp descent to the transition area. My bike has improved leaps and bounds since the end of last season, but it was still a huge challenge to maintain an average of 20+mph over 56miles and 4,000ft of gain and still not feel wiped out for the run.

2:47:41

Run: The first couple mile markers were way short and for a while I thought “man, going sub 7min miles off the transition…slow it down Paul!” Dad was there in the shade at the end of the run, taking a few pics. It was really neat to have him cheer me on. Then we started climbing, then flattening, and then up Badger Hill. This was the hardest part of the entire race. A few professionals walked up part of this hill to conserve energy as did I and everyone else. It was brutal to say the least. I passed Saul Raisin, former pro cyclist for Credit Agricole, on the beginning of Badger Hill. His story is a really powerful if you ever have the time to read about it. Half of the run was on a dirt trail, glad I did all that work on Leif Erikson and Lower McClay back in Portland, but, it was still difficult. There were slight inclines on the out-and-back that I was even having trouble with. Drank lots of Gatorade and splashed water on myself as the sun was scorching by now and everything on me was dry. I was low on calories, but was almost sick to my stomach and could feel the water sloshing in my belly. I should have taken a few more salt tabs. One of the things though, that made this race so special, was the fact that thousands cheered for you as you ran through the campsites on the paved roads. Pretty neat. The 2000ft of gain that was spread over miles and miles was lost in a short drop right before the end of the 13.1mile run. Dad was there, right before the finish line. Throughout my race I had tried to smile (my attempt at releasing endorphins during this sufferfest…anything to help!) and was able to grin ear-to-ear at the finish line, knowing that it was finally over.

1:42:21.

Total 5:10:25. 28/178 AG.

Post-Race: Wasn’t able to find Dad and spent a good 15min in the finish area downing water, electrolytes, and fruit. I went for a dip in the cool lake hoping to minimize the inevitable inflammation that was already well underway. I found the rest of the group, minus Patrick, and got an ice cream cone. Talked to Saul Raisin and got an autographed book from him. Headed back up to camp to shower and get something substantial to eat. After a good meal and a few beers we headed back down to the expo.

Sunday: Packed up and headed out before the park roads closed at 8am for the Olympic race. We stopped at In-N-Out and had ourselves some double-doubles monster style. We also met up with Josh’s uncle and his family in Ashland for some pizza on our way up. Got into Portland close to midnight and got a few hours of sleep before waking up for work the next working. Drove most of the 14hrs.

Conclusion: Brutal race, but worth it just to take in the crazy atmosphere. The hours on the road really weren’t that bad with the good company. Camping with 30,000 people was fun, no hot water, but everyone is on the same level so everyone suffers equally. Great guys weekend, planning on doing it again next year.

Deschutes River Valley Time Trial Festival: Race Report, 4-23&24

Pre-Race: Drove into Maupin on Friday with Don’s Soloist (thanks again Don) and my P2C just in time to catch dinner at the bar with Coach Jeremy, Ron, David, and Tom. My night-before meal was a burger, fries, beer, and a huge dessert called “The Thing.” I crashed with Jeremy and Ron in their room and we got up pretty early to warm up for the race.

Course Description / Elevation Charts: http://www.raceacrossoregon.com/deschutes_main/drvtt-route

Stage One: 26mile loop. The stage started with a 5mile climb. I wasn’t warmed up properly so I got passed by a few people, but then made up for it on the descent and really smoked it on the flats. LOTS of wind, including 25-35MPH cross-winds, not too far after the initial climb, on the flats that head straight north. At some point I was riding at an angle and really worried about getting thrown off my bike. Strong finish against strong winds at the end. No water on bike. 1:18:34

Stage Two: 8mile climb. I used Don’s road bike for this one, a 58 instead of my 56 tt bike. A bit large, but still the lightest bike I’ve ever been on. I passed a few people, but also got passed myself. The hardest part of this evening wasn’t the race itself, it was going back down the hill at 30MPH while battling ridiculous cross winds. Some rider in front of me got completely knocked over by the wind and landed in a rocky ditch. No water on bike.
35:58

Stage Three: 50mile out and back. My friend Darin Shields and I were tied to the very second going into this final stage. They started me 30 seconds ahead of him and he caught up to me just a couple miles in. I kept him in my sights and made a move after about a mile, never looking back. I pushed it pretty hard and passed some people going up and got really small on the descents and passed some more people going down. Beat Darin by about 7min. I took one bottle full of carbs and electrolytes.
2:19:47.

Final: 4:14:19, 4/14 in my category. Got a pair of leg warmers, almost making up for my entry fee.

Conclusion: Great training weekend, considering that Jeremy had us do bricks after every workout. Dipped our legs in the river after every stage/run to properly recover. The extreme winds and cold early morning temps were lousy, but I think helped mentally to go through it. I had success with my new nutrition formula (straight maltodextrin mixed w/ GU in my bottle, Roctane, swig of coffee and salts right before the race) Great hotel/motel right on the river, right by the start line. If you are looking for a great pre-season training weekend just a couple hours away from the busy city, this race is perfect assuming you throw in some runs after every stage.

Rough Morning

Dinner with Shan and Heath

Forced Child Labor

Rosa spent the day doing my work for me. My colleagues think I'm mean. I think they're jealous.

This is CRAZY

There are people who run marathons, then there are professionals who pound the heck outta of their legs and want to do it again?!

Portland's Kara Goucher isn't happy with her third place (by just a couple strides) finish at Boston on Sunday so she's contemplating running London in a few days. Wow.

Estacada II Time Trial: Race Report

My first bike race turned out to be a success. I’ve a couple time trials planned before Ironman CDA in June just to gauge where I’m at so I can set realistic goals and target my training. I got some good advice from friends on what a time trial is like and how to prep for it (thanks Don and Rachel). The course was just over 20miles, out and back. It was a sunny day on Highway 224, just south of Estacada, along the Clackamas River.

In case you don’t want to read the entire report, here are the highlights and what I learned:

- I won my division (Cat 4/5) at 52:41
- If it’s your first race, show up early to drive the course to develop a game plan.
- For anything an hour or under, no need to bring a water bottle or tire kit on the ride. You’ll save weight and lose too much time if you get a flat, no matter how quick you are with changing a tire.
- Bring a trainer if you have it. Hydrate before. Warm up properly.
- Cyclist are fun people, most of them don’t take themselves too seriously.

Pre-Race: I got there early to scope out the scene and drive the course. OK, I was the first one there so I didn’t have anything to do but drive the course. Since I had only been to triathlons I didn’t know what to expect. Once the crowds starting rolling in I noticed that people where generally more relaxed and less stressed than triathletes, but there were those that were pretty serious about it as well. I did notice more aero wheelsets than your typical triathlon. I took in my fluids / electrolytes and calories at an even pace, building up until about an hour before the race where I just kept it to fluids until right before when I took a GU. I didn’t bring my trainer (which I should have), so I just rode my bike up and down the road a few times starting at 45 minutes before the race. At 15 minutes before the race I coasted into the parking lot and took off my warm-ups and grabbed a coffee from the registration tent, chugged it about 5min before the start, and followed it with a GU (which also has caffeine) and was good to go to the start line. I figured that I was properly hydrated and the race was around an hour so the dehydrating effect of caffeine really wouldn’t sink in for a while. No water bottle or tire kit on the bike; too much weight, not long enough of a race.

Race: Time trials are pretty neat, because they start you individually, usually about a minute apart. No messy mass starts (say that five times quickly). I opted to have the official hold me in my seat clipped in until the clock counted down for me to take off. Good start. I set my count-down watch alarm at 13min, which was my goal race time divided by four, to give me a good idea of where I was and if I needed to back off or step it up. For my goal pace, I put the time I thought would get me close to winning my division (from previous results), because honestly, I didn’t know any better. I knew that I would be a couple minutes or so behind going out, because of the slight elevation gain and head-wind, so when my watch went off at just over 4 miles I wasn’t too worried. I kept my head as low I could and tried to get comfortable with my cadence, knowing that my higher cadence is just fine and not to get worried when I pass someone going at a much lower rate. I passed two racers on the way out. My alarm went off for the second time and knew that the turnaround was close. I had a racer in my view, but decided to let off a little since we’d have to slow down at the turnaround anyways and might end up having to break hard after a mashing the pedals to pass. Turnaround went smoothly. I used the saved energy and passed that racer and kept pushing it since the wind was at my back and I still felt comfortable. The wind died down, but I did end up passing another two racers. I started to feel some fatigue/wear at the third alarm (3/4 way through) so I got as small as I could, talked positive to myself, but cranked it up a notch since the race was almost over. Came up on a small hill towards the end and really gave it 100% effort. My last alarm went off and I sprinted to the end, finishing at 52:41.

Post-Race: I went for a quick 2mile run just to get in a brick and kept thinking “how the heck am I going to run a marathon after laying down 112miles on the bike come June 21st?” Wolfed down a protein bar and lots of water. I hung around to get my official time and was pleasantly surprised to see that I had won my category. Pretty stoked, I left and was definitely on a high for the rest of the day.

Unbelievable!

I had the good fortune of snagging a ticket to the last Blazer's game of the regular season. Wow.

Oregon Unemployment Above 12%

And I thought 10% was bad. We really are lucky to have our jobs, no one is really safe.
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/04/oregon_jobless_rate_hits_121_p.html

More Crime From Our Courtroom

Crazy guy hits cyclist:

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/04/motorists_who_intentionally_ra.html

http://www.katu.com/news/42779022.html

Video: http://www.katu.com/news/42779022.html?video=YHI&t=a

Brown Fat Study

Now, granted, I didn't know anything about 'brown fat,' but I have always been a big fan of turning down the heat and swimming in cold open water!

They're also trying a simpler strategy: turning down the thermostat to see if it makes people burn more energy to lose weight. Results of a small study are expected by the end of the year.
"Taken together, these studies point to a potential 'natural' intervention to stimulate energy expenditure: turn down the heat and burn calories (and reduce the carbon footprint in the process)," Dr. Francesco Celi of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease in Bethesda, Maryland wrote in a commentary.

Today's Docket

Here's a case that was in our courtroom today. If you look really close, you can see me in the video clip. : )

Side Note

I might have mentioned before that my winter season was somewhat of a disappointment, because I had missed qualifying for Boston narrowly (I had to run a 3:10:59 to qualify), twice. Once I missed the time by 14 seconds and the other time by less than 50 seconds, which was excruciating considering that the race is well over 3 hrs long. Boston doesn’t have a half marathon time as a qualifier, but the NYC Marathon does…

The NYC marathon is actually much more difficult to qualify for, seeing that it is the US Olympic Trials qualifier. Sure, there are a couple other ways to get into the NYC marathon (and Boston as well), such as racing for a charity (translated: being well connected or giving a bunch of money) or the lottery system. The qualifying time for the NYC Marathon is a 2:55:00, much faster than Boston’s 3:10:59. The silver lining on my cloud is that it has a half marathon qualifying time for the full marathon, 1:23:00, which translates in the world of running to a 2:55:00 full marathon time.

Do the math and I just qualified for the NYC by 8 seconds! : )

Not Bad for a Slow Poke

Paul ran the Race for the Roses 1/2 marathon this weekend in the lovely Rose City (he also ran home afterwards, then ran back out and completed another 7 miles).
2,123 runners completed the race - he's how Paul fared:
1:22:52 (6:19 min miles).
4th in his age division.
24th overall.

Nice job Paul!

GO RIP CITY!

In case you hadn’t noticed, the Portland TrailBlazers of old are back. I remember the years when I was a kid growing up in the Vancouver/Portland area, watching games with my dad and listening to the radio rave about it the next morning. We were all in awe of Cylde “the Glide” Drexler, Terry Porter, Buck Williams and Kevin “00” Duckworth. That was almost 20 years ago. No thugs in trouble with the law, prima donnas whining about playing time, or drama of any sort. It’s great to see this again in Portland. Heck, most of the Blazers are missing those NBA standard-issue tattoos that have become the norm! Our team plays like a team even though they are an odd mix of forwards from France, sharp shooters from Spain, east-coast ballers and local NW talent.

The Blazers just won their third consecutive game by more than 20 points (haven’t done that since 1992) and are just a couple games away from clinching a playoff spot (not a question of if they'll play in the post-season, but whether they'll have home court advantage). They are the youngest team in the NBA and are playing fearlessly, perhaps not even fully appreciating what they are about to accomplish.

GO RIP CITY!

Oregon State Bar Bulletin Article

Pretty neat. Congrats Annie!

Gonzaga can beat North Carolina

Gonzaga can beat North Carolina by Steve Kelley

Since a gritty little program from Eastern Washington emerged from the obscurity of the West Coast Conference a decade ago and started smacking around bigger programs from better conferences, we've been waiting for a matchup like this...

Also, check this article out by CBS' Gregg Doyle.

Remember to tune-in Friday night!

How Sweet It Is!

Our seats were terrible - the Huskies played terrible - and the Zags were poised to break our hearts (again). But in the end, freshman Demetri Goodson went coast-to-coast, throwing up a last minute shot which banked in with under a second left, took the roof off the Rose Garden, and sent the Zags to the Sweet 16.

It was awesome. March is awesome.

Next up: No. 1 Seed UNC (Mark: that's the University of North Carolina Tar Heels;) - Obama's (and my) pick to win it all.

Go Bulldogs!

Zags To Play First Round In Portland!

And in the year we got tickets in the NCAA lottery! : )

GO ZAGS!

Great Time at Timberline

Paul and I are up at Timberline Lodge for our friends Jenna and Sam's wedding. With some help from Mike and Christa's 4 Wheel Drive Suburban and Paul's excellent driving we made it up in one piece (whether we get out of here will be another story). We arrived in the middle of a snow storm and it hasn't stopped. The wedding was absolutely beautiful and we're having a great time in this breathtaking NW setting with good friends.

Bubbles and Rainbows

I HATE Sea World, but I saw this on ABC news tonight and thought it was amazing.